Nav,Beacon,Strobe,tail & wing lights

[EHM-1838 Andrew]

Hello All
Can anyone tell which of these lights you would have on during a flight?I always fly with the Nav,Strobe and Beacon lights on for the duration of the flight and i switch the tail lights and wing lights on at night or early morning/evening,but i am guessing so can you help me please?
cheers Andy

[EHM-1001 Robert]

Well,

if I am right the Wing lights are to check the wing state by the pilots during night.

And the Tail/Logo light should turned on mainly while close to the ground, or on ground. Therefore in FS its visualization is mainly merged with the Landing Lights switch, although it is always ON at some aircraft night repaints.

[EHM-1570 Bruce]

Officially Nav lights should be turned ON when the aircraft is occupied by the crew, Beacon lights should be turned ON prior to engine start, and remain ON until after engine shutdown, Strobe and Landing lights should be turned on just prior to takeoff, Strobes remain ON during flight and are turned OFF once you have exited the runway after landing, Landing lights are OFF above 10000ft and ON again when descending below 10000ft. Hope this helps.

[EHM-1838 Andrew]

Thanks Guys
I knew about the landing lights it was just the others i was wondering about.
cheers Andy

[EHM-1001 Robert]

Great explanation

Basically, the red beacon signs that engines running, and the plane is going to move. The white strobes are used to avoid collision in the air, and in bad weather, logically that is why/how they are used as Bruce described.

[EHM-1749 Hector]

Hi Andrew,
you can find more info on aircraft lights on the following website:
 http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/electronics/q0263.shtml
Cheers,
Hector

[EHM-1838 Andrew]

Thanks Hector for the link.I will a nose about.
cheers Andy

[EHM-2089 Vincent]

Thanks for the wonderful info about the various lights. I too often wondered why there were the white strobe lights and also the other set of beacon lights. Now I am clear about it.

Thanks buddies....

[EHM-0471 Peter]

Your description is excellent Bruce, and I think all our pilots should follow these short, but precise instructions during our FS flights.

Peter LGAV HM

[EHM-1570 Bruce]

One thing I did fail to mention with regard to the Strobe lights is that they can be ON during Taxi if there is poor visability, in order to reduce the possibility of collision.